Jack Frost and the Ice Queen
by Ethia
Summary: All of the kids love Jack Frost... except a cold blooded girl named Crystal. Just when she thought she had grown up and forgotten about the chilly prankster and travesty occurs and she becomes the Ice Queen. This IS NOT a romance and is a chilling (pun intended) short story based off of an idea I had after watching RotG.
1. The Hated Queen

******Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: This is short story that popped into my head once I had finished watching RotG. It's 5 chapters long and I will be publishing the chapters as soon as I finish them; even if that's multiple chapters in a single day. Originally this was going to be a one shot but after the initial story-boarding it expanded to the need of additional chapters. I don't intend to turn this into a long series or anything because I really only wanted to express this idea but the story developed into what I shall write and present. While I haven't written the other chapters yet (I'm about to start chapter 2 once I put this up) I do know that in my head this gets friggin depressing... hopefully I can express that with written word, but because of that I do express extra want for reviews/thoughts/opinions on the story (even if it's after all 5 chapters are up) because I wanna know what ya guys think of this idea. P&T so here's the first chapter.**

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**Jack Frost and the Ice Queen**

**Chapter One: The Hated Queen**

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Snow was setting lightly upon the ground of a small town I had grown fond of. After finishing a few tasks asked of me by the Big Guy in Red himself, I drifted through the wind towards that town. A lot of time had passed since that first child, Jamie, had believed in me, and now my powers were over abundant and still growing as children around the world grew to believe in me.

"_It's Jack!"_ I could hear from their thoughts that drifted with the snow; clinging to my ears like small drops of crystallizing water.

_That's right kids, I'm back._

The towns that were always in a constant winter had been going through harsh times for the past several years, and this town was no different. Warm houses held the children tightly as they rushed to the windows I decorated with my staff, hoping to step outside and see me fly by. _"It really is him!" _echoed through the town. _"Jack Frost is here for the winter!"_

I always thought that being a guardian meant playing with the kids and helping them experience the pure joys of fun. Now I know that's not the case. It's my duty to protect them from anything I can…

_Even if the thing threatening their lives is my fault._

"Jack, why did you cause that large storm last year?"

"Is it really safe to play with you, Jack?"

"Mamma doesn't want me playing outside during the winter anymore. She says it's too cold and unpredictable."

"My cousin froze to death last winter… Why would you let him die?"

The children bombard me with questions after they were finally allowed outside and could come see me. It appears that the time has come to tell another generation of kids _her_ story. I'm not looking forward to it.

"I'm not the only winter spirit in this world," I tell the awaiting children. They stay silent, eager for the story I'm about to unfold. "There's a woman who drifts through the white powder on the coldest of nights. She has many names and has been called the Snow Woman and the Ice Queen."

"Why is she so mean Jack?"

I inhale deeply and then exhale, my breath chilling the air and causing the kids to shiver as I prepare to tell them about the woman who haunts the winter and freezes the air well below zero.


	2. Cold Blooded Child

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: So chapter 1 was more of a prologue and then chapter 2 sets off the actual key events in the story. Key even #1: Crystal's relationship to Jack and how she views him, etc. Once again reviews would be appreciated because I'd like to know what you think of the idea and story itself.**

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**Jack Frost and the Ice Queen**

**Chapter Two: ****Cold Blooded Child**

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Crystal was a young girl in second grade when I met her for the first time. I thought it would be nice to surprise the kids with an early winter so I arrived to the town while it was still autumn; the trees already painted with red's and gold's. While the other children were wearing sweaters and wind jackets, still waiting to adorn their bodies with large winter coats, Crystal was covered from head to toe in fabric. A wool hat, a few sizes too big for her, was collapsed atop her head; she had a thick scarf bundled tightly around her neck and dripping over her shoulders, resting on a large jacket that was bunched up from the sweaters that hid underneath it; her pants were thick from the layers of stocking that clung to her skinny legs, and thick boots protected her feet from the cooling puddles of water that formed along the sidewalks.

_What is she going to wear when winter finally gets here?_

The classrooms were heated well enough to make the school glow like a welcoming furnace. Most of the kids abandoned their sweaters inside of their school cubbies once they entered the building, but the only garment that Crystal removed was her coat and her hat; because hats weren't allowed within the building. Long strands of black hair fell to her waist as she removed the hat; she had been hiding her hair within it to shield it from the wind.

Not a stickler for school, I decided to find something fun to do while the kids sat through class; ultimately choosing to surprise them with a small flurry of snow. The first bell, which signaled recess, couldn't come fast enough, and I greeted the kids with snowballs to the head. They were excited to see me and we played with the snow throughout the break. As the children hesitantly made their way back into the building I promised them an early winter and an abundance of fun. Although the small amount of snow had already melted, I knew they weren't dishearten and were beginning to expect more; still, I couldn't help but notice that Crystal had stayed cooped up within the building.

I didn't summon anymore snow for the rest of the day, choosing to save up my strength for a mild storm, and yet Crystal still never came outside.

A few weeks past and my snow started to become more and more plentiful. At last the first snow day came and we were able to play all day. Even though the school was closed, we decided to play within the large courtyard in back of the building. I felt like every one of the kids had showed up and we had a blast sledding down large mounds of snow, making snowmen and forts, and having snowball fights.

"I feel like we're missing someone," I said amidst the snowball-throwing chaos.

"Crystal isn't here," one of the kids said, noticing the lack of her presence.

"Crystal never plays outside during the winter," another kid said.

"Why not?" I ask. They shrug so I decide we should invite her to join us. The rest of the children are having so much fun that they don't realize when we leave to find Crystal.

We arrive at her house ten minutes later and her friends knock on her front door, asking her mother if she can come out and play.

"I don't want to…" Crystal said after her school friends asked her to join. "I'm not good with the cold."

"But Jack's here!" A boy says.

"Can't you see him Crysta? He's really, really fun!" Another child, a girl, says.

Crystal looks at me for a second before lowering her head and, ultimately, her gaze. She grabs her large coat and zips it up all the way to the top, and then she flips her hood over her head and puts on a pair of gloves. "I'll give it a try."

The children whoop gleefully and usher her into her front yard. I toss a magic filled snowball at her, hitting her in the back of the head; everyone loves this trick, but the snow belts against her warm coat and seeps into the fabric. Crystal shivers and tries to brush off the cold before her eyes clench and her nose and cheeks turn pink against her pale skin.

Quickly, she rushes to her front door.

"Crystal, what's wrong?" one of her friends asks.

"I hate winter!" Crystal says.

"What about Jack?" another friend asks.

"I hate Jack Frost too!"

The door slams and we hear her crying from within the house; soon her mother opens the door and walks to the children, overlooking me.

"I'm sorry kids. Crystal has really low blood-pressure and so she gets cold very easily. While this weather is enjoyable to you, her blood doesn't get to her fast enough to keep her warm so she freezes up at a faster rate," her mother explained.

The children nod in understanding and we decide to go back to the schoolyard.

Crystal and I went through the rest of the winter with very little contact. It seemed like she didn't want anything to do with me, but over the next few years I tried to appease her.

While my returning presence always brought joy to the town kids, she alone stood out from the rest. I didn't understand why she didn't like me. I, as a person, or spirit, was nice. Sure I was cold, but I was still nice.

On the nights when the kids were called into their houses early, I would find Crystal reading in her room. Her windows were always tightly shut and locked, in hopes of keeping out the cold. She'd watch amused as I covered her window with frost and drew pictures for her with my finger. Then I made the mistake of bringing one of the images to life. The image exploded into a thousand light flakes of snow that were too cold for her to touch. When I next visited her window, it was covered by a protective layer of plastic.

With my one real connection to her now severed, she began to detest me more with each passing year; going so far as to belittle her younger brother for befriending and playing with me.

Then one year, while I was at the pole, I watched as her light flickered off and disbelief overcame her. It was bound to come sooner or later, it always does; only a few years later her peers reached the age where their lights flickered off too, being replaced by a new generation of kids.

The disappearance of her light hurt though, almost as much as when Jamie's light had flickered off. If only I had known then, that this wouldn't be the last I would see of her.


	3. Frozen to Death

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: Chapter three focuses on the idea of Crystal's transitioning. Also, please note that I view this as occurring before the time of cell phones.**

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**Jack Frost and the Ice Queen**

**Chapter Three: ****Frozen to Death**

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I decided to keep my distance from Crystal whenever I visited that town; it's not like she could see me anymore anyway. She was now a senior in high school, but, despite my reserve, I still heard about her from her brother, who was now ten.

He said that her classmates and the teenagers in the high school described her as hot during the summer and cold during the winter. When summer came she would wear revealing clothes and tan as often as possible; soaking up the sun's rays to prepare for the cold months to come. Her skin would tan and the contrast it had against her long black locks was longed for. She was feisty and spunky and very energetic.

During winter, her attitude turned bitter and stark as she isolated herself from the world and stayed cooped up in her house. She hated anything and everything to do with the cold and would ask her friends to carpool with her to school so that she wouldn't have to drive across the icy roads; but that's where disaster struck. I wasn't nearby. And even if I was, I didn't know what was going to happen.

One day, during the winter, Crystal's carpool never arrived and she had to drive herself to school.

Once school was over, she started her car up and then rushed back inside the warm building; letting her car heat up for several minutes before daring to go back into it. Her experience driving on winter roads was limited from the numerous times she carpooled, so she wasn't shocked when she slid passed a red light; her brakes failing to stop the car. Before she could turn off the main road and head the way she was initially planning, the traffic behind her ushered her forward and she found herself slowly driving out of the town.

Crystal wanted to pull to the side of the road and make a U-turn into the other lane so that she could drive home, but the second lane was filled with oncoming traffic and there were too many cars behind her so she wasn't comfortable enough to slow down and drive off the road. After half an hour of driving, Crystal finally risked a turn and drove onto a branched off street.

This street was skinnier then the main road and a plow had driven through, pushing a wall of snow onto either side of the road so that it became even skinnier. She couldn't bring herself to awkwardly stop, turn, and reverse her car until it was repositioned in the other direction; scared that she'd get stuck in the snow.

Night began to creep across the sky, leaving her blind to anything that wasn't illuminated by the glow of the full moon or her head lights. A sudden turn appeared out of nowhere. She jerked the steering wheel but slammed her car into a bar that wrapped along the curving road; shoving the bar out of the ground and driving the car far into the snow.

_Sloosh. Shlump._

Crystal instinctively jumped out of her car as she heard the ominous noises of moving snow. Once she was away from the vehicle she turned in time to watch her car, the bar, and the pile of snow that they had smashed into fall off the side of a cliff; tumbling down a sharp drop before slamming into the trees below.

"Crap," Crystal thought.

She tried to calm herself and prevent any forming panic attack. She'd be fine.

In an effort to save herself from the cold winds, she scrambled to a large pile of snow and began digging into it; creating a shelter within. Her clothes quickly dampened from snow melting against her body heat; her temperature began to drop and she wrapped her arms around her legs, burying her head into her lap. At least the wind wasn't hitting her.

That's when I heard it: my name howling through the icy wind.

"Jack!"

I didn't know that Crystal was the one calling me, but I did know that whoever was calling me was in desperate need for help. I flew through the wind, following the voice until I noticed the burrow she had made. I climbed into the small nest quickly and found her body trembling within the shelter.

"I'm here," I said, grabbing her with the intent of carrying her to safety. It was only when my hand slid through her arm, and she didn't respond to my voice, that I noticed her long black hair and realized who was calling out to me.

"J-Jack… p-p-please… Make the cold stop… Wh-where a-a-re y-you?" She asked, her teeth shaking and clattering as her frozen cheeks and lips forced the words out.

"I'm right here, Crystal," I said to no avail. I used my magic to freeze the inside of the burrow; solidifying the walls so that the cold draft couldn't sneak in.

The dispersing drafts gave me away and Crystal looked up and stared at me. "You came," she said, trying to smile. She rubbed her eyes, blinked, and looked at me again. "You look blurry; like I'm seeing you with tear-filled eyes."

"More than likely it's because you don't fully believe in me. There's still doubt," I said. Conversation was good; it meant she still had strength.

"You're voice… It's like a soft whisper," she said. "Please Jack, please stop the cold." She was on her knees, stumbling towards me desperately.

"I'm sorry Crystal. This isn't my doing. The ice and snow are at Mother Nature's beck and call too," I say. I wish I could touch her and carry her away from the snow; bring her back home, but her doubts make it so that we can barely touch and I fear that she thinks she's being disillusioned into seeing me by her numbing mind and body.

"Th-then s-s-s-stay with m-me until i-it's o-ov-ver." She uses the rest of her strength to stand and cling into my body, sinking slightly into me but also holding me tightly. I try to lift her one last time but my hands slip through her. We can only half hold each other while her time diminishes. I comfort her as best as I can but feel defeated as a tear runs down my cheek.

Her pulse begins to slow as she grows colder from clinging onto me; something that leaves me feeling even more pathetic.

"I-I wanted to l-let y-y-you know that I n-never really h-h-hated y-you," she says into my chest. "I j-just really h-hate the c-c-c-cold…"

The wind outside picks up and howls as it beats against the mound of snow until it creates a hole directly above us; letting the moon's beams beat down on us. Crystal's blood pressure ceases and she exhales on last time while I curse myself for not being able to help her. She was only seventeen; still a child in most countries.

_Aren't I a guardian? Aren't I supposed to protect children?_

And yet I wasn't able to do anything. I was completely helpless.

I look at the moon for a second, wondering why _he_ wanted to watch such a travesty, then I look back at Crystal and nearly shout in surprise. Her hair was starting to turn white, like mine.


	4. Queen of the Ice Woman of Snow

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: Chapter four is a brief look at Crystal's existence as a spirit.**

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**Jack Frost and the Ice Queen**

**Chapter Four: ****Queen of the Ice; Woman of Snow**

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Several days passed before Crystal awakened. I was neglecting the kids but I felt that it was my duty to guide her into her new life.

"I hate this," she said, yelling at me from our hideout in the forest miles from the town. Her powers, though similar, were different from mine. As her emotions got the best of her the winds and cold would pick up, bringing immense blizzards with it. While my powers were the joy of winter, hers were the fear of it. "This isn't what I wanted Jack!"

I apologized ceaselessly but she wouldn't have anything to do with it. She didn't want to forgive me and she didn't want to understand. Her first impulse was to go home but her heart broke when she realized her family couldn't see or hear her. She fought against me and I needed to push the fight to the forest as our wasted energy began cursing the town with our snow and freezing temperatures.

Parents began taken precautions and wouldn't let their kids outside to play. At school one day, the kids gathered around their classroom's window during their break, to talk to me.

"Why are you doing this, Jack?"

"Are you a bad guy now?"

"Why are you being so mean?"

"Jack, did we make you mad?"

It hurt that the abysmal weather was having such an effect on them. "It's not me. It's the Snow Queen; she's the one who's doing this," I explained while titling her as the Mistress of Frost. "I don't know how to calm her down yet so listen to your parents and stay inside when they tell you to."

The children sulked but agreed; all but one. Crystal's younger brother couldn't believe his sister was dead. One night he sneaked outside and ran to the park he and his sister used to play at during the summer; running into the trees that surrounded the park.

The tall trunks didn't cease the rushing wind that sped through the small forest and he stumbled through the thick, piling snow.

"Jack," he said, hoping that I would hear his call and come help him back home. Crystal got to him first though.

"I'm here little brother, you don't need to be afraid," she said, hoping to calm him down; but she was a spirit now and he couldn't hear her or see her. "Why don't you listen to me? Why don't you look at me?" As Crystal grew more frustrated, the wind and snow picked up speed and the temperature plummeted.

"No! Please Snow Queen, I don't want to die! Jack!" He called to me again.

_I'm almost there._

"C-Crystal?" He said as his belief revealed her form. "Why are you doing this?"

"I-I… I'm not—" she started to explain, but I had finally arrived and my presence stopped her. Her brother ran to me and I lifted him up; preparing to take him home.

"You really are a Snow Queen!" her brother said to her as we departed.

"Is that it then Jack? You save my brother but allow me to freeze to death?" Crystal yells at me hoarsely. I feel a hundred shards of ice stab into me, but when I look to Crystal I realize she's vanished and the shards were nothing but the pain of knowing I had failed a child.

The town was pardoned from her torment for the next several years; she had gone missing and no matter where I looked I couldn't find her. It was only later, after I had found her; that she explained seeing her family and brother was too hard for her to handle so she ran away.

One day, I was drifting through a town I hadn't visited in a while when I heard a rumor about wanderers freezing to death while going through a pass in the mountains that connected to another town. I decided to investigate. Fly through the wind I was able to discover a large ice palace surrounded by a mile's worth of large, sharp icicles.

The icicles were so pure that they reflected everything around them like obtuse mirrors; creating the illusion of a labyrinth protecting the palace. Luckily I could use the breeze to soar over them and right to the palace where I finally found Crystal.

"You… you found me," she said as I walked to the heart of her palace and found her sitting on an icy throne. She leapt from the chair and ran towards me, throwing her arms around my body and burying her head in my chest. "I'm so lonely."

"You don't need to be. There are so many options for you; you could protect the children like me, you could—"

"There's nothing out there for me! They'll hate me for what I do… All I'm good for is freezing people to death like I died…"

"Crystal… Please believe me; you don't have to be so harsh—"

"What do you know about it, Jack? We can't all be perfect little Jack Frost; the mischief maker who brings joy to children!" Her worsening mood caused more icicles to break through the solid ice floor; making her cry out even louder and creating a domino effect. "This is all _your _fault!"

"I'll visit you," I said to her; hoping to calm her down. "I know you're lonely so I promise I'll come visit you often."

She sniffled and nodded her head, accepting my proposition.


	5. The Guardian

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

_**xxxxx**_

**Jack Frost and the Ice Queen**

**Chapter Five: ****The Guardian**

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"So that's her story," I say to the eagerly listening kids. "It is only her fear of rejection and misery she suffers that causes her to torment the world. Really, kids, it's up to yourselves to decide if you want to fear her or not; if you want to judge her or not. She's going to be this way until she's found acceptance from others and from herself; trapped with the power of the one thing she's always hated," I say, finishing my story.

"But how do we know if it's safe to go outside, Jack?"

"Yeah, Jack, I'm scared that she'll freeze me to death."

I feel a smirk spread across my face. "As long as I'm with you, you can venture outside and play." I stand from the group, tired of sitting and ready to play. "As long as there are kids to protect, then I will be there to protect them."

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**AN: So this could have been a really long one-shot, but I felt it would flow better if I separated the story into sections. Basically I wanted to illustrate the concept of a snow-based spirit that wreaks havoc rather than creates joy. I also used the idea that this one girl proves to be Jack's Achilles heel. She's the one child he couldn't save and now she haunts him basically, but, also, it's through her suffering that his resolve to be a guardian becomes finalized and he vows to protect EVERY child so that nothing like this happens again. I also use her as a representation to harsher winters which really do kill people as opposed to the care-free winters that Jack represents. **

**I couldn't reference it in the story but I basically view this as when Jack goes and visits her, as promised, those are the winters that are the worst.**

**Also; her name is like ice crystals and then I added a little Japanese mythology with the Snow Woman (Yuki-Onna) to give her an actual representation.**

**So what do you think?**


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